1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to conductors and more specifically to a method for making hollow squarax inner conductors.
2. Background of the Invention
Satellites may generally use waveguides for conducting signals within the satellite, for example to and from antennas. Alternatively, a coaxial center conductor having a square cross section or squarax may be used. Solid inner conductors are used in current antenna squarax applications. However, for lower frequency applications in the range of 800 MHz such as high power low frequency antennas, the size of the squarax increases and the larger solid inner conductors may make squarax prohibitively heavy for satellite use where minimizing weight is a prime objective. Use of a hollow inner conductor to reduce weight is a possible solution to the problem since this would not effect electrical performance because of the phenomenon known as the electrical skin effect. But attempts at bending square tubing or attaching straight tube sections to solid curved sections has not met the strict requirements of outer dimensional tolerances and versatility critical to the use of squarax in satellite applications.